738 Naval Air Squadron (738 NAS) was a

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the naval aviation component of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy (RN). The FAA is one of five :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, RN fighting arms. it is a primarily helicopter force, though also operating the Lockhee ...

(FAA)

naval air squadron A naval air squadron (NAS) is the title of naval aviation squadrons in some countries. Poland The Polish ''Morski Dywizjon Lotniczy'' #Naval Air Squadron# was formed in 1920 with two ''Escadrille''s# United Kingdom The squadrons of the Fleet A ...

of the United Kingdom’s

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

(RN), which last disbanded during May 1970 at HMS ''Goldcrest'', RNAS Brawdy. It initially formed as a Pilot Training Squadron formed at HMS ''Asbury'', RNAS Quonset Point, Rhode Island, in February 1943. The squadron moved to RNAS Lewiston, Maine, United States, at the end of July 1943 and also providing advanced carrier training to American-trained Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) pilots and it later provided complete Torpedo Bomber Reconnaissance (TBR) aircrew for Grumman Avenger FAA squadrons. The squadron moved to RNAS Brunswick, Maine, in February 1945 and disbanded there in July 1945. 738 Naval Air Squadron was next active as part of the Naval Air Fighter School, between May 1950 and March 1954, providing newly qualified FAA pilots the operational techniques of air-to-air and air-to-ground firing. It had formed at HMS ''Seahawk'', RNAS Culdrose, Cornwall, England, moving to HMS ''Fulmar'', RNAS Lossiemouth in 1953. It reformed in April 1954 at HMS ''Fulmar'' and now the squadron’s role was to instruct United States trained pilots on the British method and was also responsible for converting the FAA piston-engined pilots onto jet aircraft. It became an Advanced Flying Training Squadron in June 1962 providing training for low-level navigation, ground attack and air-to-air weapons training.

History

Pilot Training Squadron (1943–1945)

6 Vought Corsair of 738 NAS Fleet Air Arm

738 Naval Air Squadron formed at RNAS Quonset Point (HMS ''Asbury''),

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

, United States, on 1 February 1943 as a Pilot Training Squadron. Quonset Point was a United States Naval Base loaned to the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

from 1 October 1942 and commissioned as HMS ''Asbury''. It was used by the Royal Navy for forming and working up Fleet Air Arm squadrons, operating with American aircraft supplied under the

Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (),3,000 Hurricanes and >4,000 other aircraft) * 28 naval vessels: ** 1 Battleship. (HMS Royal Sovereign (05), HMS Royal Sovereign) * ...

agreement, although it later recommissioned as HMS ''Saker'' II, on 13 March 1943. It was equipped with a mixture of Vought Corsair, an American

carrier-based A carrier-based aircraft (also known as carrier-capable aircraft, carrier-borne aircraft, carrier aircraft or aeronaval aircraft) is a naval aircraft designed for operations from aircraft carriers. Carrier-based aircraft must be able to launch ...

fighter-bomber A fighter-bomber is a fighter aircraft that has been modified, or used primarily, as a light bomber or attack aircraft. It differs from bomber and attack aircraft primarily in its origins, as a fighter that has been adapted into other roles, wh ...

aircraft,

Grumman Martlet The Grumman F4F Wildcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft that entered service in 1940 with the United States Navy, and the British Royal Navy where it was initially known as the Martlet. First used by the British in the North Atla ...

, an American carrier-based

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air supremacy, air superiority of the battlespace. Domina ...

(the Grumman F4F Wildcat was initially known as the Martlet in Royal Navy service) and

North American Harvard The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft, which was used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Air Force (USAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Ro ...

, an American single-engined advanced

trainer aircraft A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristic ...

. On 31 July 1943 the squadron moved to RNAS Lewiston,

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

, United States, a U.S. Naval Auxiliary Air Facility (NAAF) loaned to the Admiralty from 1 August 1943, to teach advanced aircraft carrier landing techniques to United States Navy flight school trained, Fleet Air Arm pilots. Here the squadron received

Grumman Avenger The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) is an American World War II-era torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air and naval av ...

, an American

torpedo bomber A torpedo bomber is a military aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes. Torpedo bombers came into existence just before the World War I, First World War almost as soon as aircraft were built that were capable of carryin ...

, and Torpedo Bomber Reconnaissance aircrews were then also trained up enabling complete crews for FAA Grumman Avenger equipped squadrons. On 14 February 1945, 738 Naval Air Squadron moved to RNAS Brunswick, Maine, another U.S. Naval Air Station loaned for use to the Admiralty, from August 1943. The squadron remained for a further five months before disbanding on 31 July 1945.

Naval Air Fighter School (1950–1962)

On 1 May 1950, 738 Naval Air Squadron reformed at RNAS Culdrose (HMS ''Seahawk''),

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, England, from

736 Naval Air Squadron 736 Naval Air Squadron (736 NAS) was a Fleet Air Arm (FAA) naval air squadron of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy (RN). It was most recently recommissioned at HMS ''Seahawk'', RNAS Culdrose in June 2013 to fly the BAE Systems Hawk, mainly in th ...

, and became a part of the Naval Air Fighter School, controlled by the 52nd Training Air Group. It was equipped with

Supermarine Seafire The Supermarine Seafire is a naval version of the Supermarine Spitfire fighter adapted for operation from aircraft carriers. It was analogous in concept to the Hawker Hurricane variants#Sea Hurricanes, Hawker Sea Hurricane, a navalised aircraft ...

F Mk XVII and F Mk 46, a

navalised A navalised aircraft (or navalized aircraft) is an aircraft that has been specifically designed for naval use, in some cases as a variant of a land-based design. An aircraft based on an aircraft carrier is called carrier-based aircraft. Characte ...

version of the

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced conti ...

fighter aircraft and

Hawker Sea Fury The Hawker Sea Fury is a British fighter aircraft designed and manufactured by Hawker Aircraft. It was the last propeller-driven fighter to serve with the Royal Navy. Developed during the Second World War, the Sea Fury entered service two year ...

F.10, FB.11 and T.20, fighter, fighter-bomber and trainer aircraft respectively. Its role was to take newly qualified FAA pilots and instruct them in the techniques of

air-to-air combat Air combat manoeuvring (ACM) is the Military tactics, tactic of moving, turning, and situating one's fighter aircraft in order to attain a position from which an attack can be made on another aircraft. Commonly associated with dogfighting, air c ...

and air-to-ground firing. In August 1951, part of the squadron became

759 Naval Air Squadron 759 Naval Air Squadron (759 NAS) was a Fleet Air Arm (FAA) naval air squadron of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy (RN). It was created on November 1, 1939, and was disbanded on December 24, 1969. It was initially intended as a Telegraphist Air ...

and an ‘A’ Flight was formed out of Hawker Sea Fury aircraft from 736 Naval Air Squadron. This flight provided air-to-air instruction and ‘B’ Flight ground attack training. 738 Naval Air Squadron moved to RNAS Lossiemouth (HMS ''Fulmar''),

Moray Moray ( ; or ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Its council is based in Elgin, the area' ...

, Scotland on 9 November 1953, but disbanded on 24 March 1954 only to reform again nine days later, still at RNAS Lossiemouth, on 3 April. The following month saw the squadron receive both

Hawker Sea Hawk The Hawker Sea Hawk is a British single-seat jet day fighter formerly of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), the air branch of the Royal Navy (RN), built by Hawker Aircraft and its sister company, Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft. Although its design originat ...

F1 a British single-seat jet

day fighter A day fighter is a fighter aircraft equipped only to fight during the day. More specifically, it refers to a multi-purpose aircraft that does not include equipment for fighting at night (such as a radar and specialized avionics), although it is som ...

and de Havilland Sea Vampire T.22, a two-seat trainer variant of the jet fighter aircraft, with the squadron’s role to instruct United States trained pilots on the British method and was responsible for converting the FAA piston-engined pilots onto jet powered aircraft. April 1954, until it moved to RNAS Yeovilton in 1956, saw the Command Instrument Grading and Examination Flight attached to 738 Naval Air Squadron. The de Havilland Sea Vampire aircraft were withdrawn from squadron use in March 1955 and it received more Hawker Sea Hawk aircraft, transferred over from 736 Naval Air Squadron. In 1957 the then squadron

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

, Lieutenant Commander Alan J. Leahy, , RN, formed an

aerobatic Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aeroplane" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and gl ...

demonstration team, to display at that years

Society of British Aircraft Constructors A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soc ...

Farnborough Airshow The Farnborough International Airshow is a trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries, where civilian and military aircraft are demonstrated to potential customers and investors in Farnborough, Hampshire. Since its first show in ...

. The team used the name ‘The Red Devils’ and consisted five Hawker Sea Hawk FB.3 (Fighter-bomber variant) aircraft, each painted red with Royal Navy in large, white letters under the wings. The squadron’s

engineers Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while consider ...

made alterations which enabled the aircraft to produce coloured smoke. During the rest of the decade, the squadron lost (December 1958), and then later regained (June 1960, again from 736 Naval Air Squadron), Hawker Sea Hawk aircraft, but it took the

de Havilland Sea Venom The de Havilland DH.112 Sea Venom is a British postwar carrier-capable jet aircraft developed from the de Havilland Venom. It served with the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm and with the Royal Australian Navy. The French Navy operated the Aquilon, ...

FAW.21, a carrier-capable jet fighter-bomber aircraft, used as an all-weather

interceptor aircraft An interceptor aircraft, or simply interceptor, is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically for the defensive interception role against an attacking enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Aircraft that are c ...

by the FAA, for all weather fighter training from October 1957 until September 1960, and later provided the Sea Venom Operational Flying School Parts I and II. The Squadron became the Naval Air Fighter School in 1958 when the parent formation was renamed the Naval Air Fighter and Strike School and it kept this role until 1962 when it retired its Hawker Sea Hawk FGA.6 aircraft and then became known as the Advanced Training Squadron.

Advanced Training Squadron (1962–1970)

In line with its new role,

Hawker Hunter The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet propulsion, jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly dev ...

T.8, a two-seat jet trainer for the RN, fitted with an arrestor hook for use on RN airfields, and Hawker Hunter GA.11, a single-seat weapons training version for the RN (converted F.4 fitted with an arrester hook), began to arrive at RNAS Lossiemouth during June 1962. Commanded by Lieutenant Commander F. Hefford, DSC, RN, 738 Naval Air Squadron’s tasks included low-level

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the motion, movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navig ...

, ground attack and air-to-air weapons training. On 6 January 1964, 738 Naval Air Squadron relocated to RNAS Brawdy (HMS ''Goldcrest'') in

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

, Wales, where it operated as phase 2 of the Advanced Flying Training course, giving tuition on fighter tactics and weapons release to students graduating out of 759 Naval Air Squadron, which was also based at RNAS Brawdy. Using three Hawker Hunter GA.11 aircraft and a single Hawker Hunter T.8 two-seat trainer aircraft, a Fleet Air Arm aerobatic

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to in ...

was formed from 738 Naval Air Squadron, led by Lieutenant Commander Chris Comins, RN, whilst at RNAS Brawdy (HMS ''Goldcrest''). The team was known as the 'Rough Diamonds' and were operational from 1965, disbanding in 1969. The aircraft were painted in the standard Fleet Air Arm colour scheme of Extra Dark Sea Grey on top, over a White underside, however, the lead aircraft also had a

dayglo The Day-Glo Color Corp. (also styled as DayGlo) is a privately held American paint and pigments manufacturer based in Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio. It was founded in 1946 by brothers Joseph and Bob Switzer, Robert Switzer and is currently owned by ...

red

nose cone A nose cone is the conically shaped forwardmost section of a rocket, guided missile or aircraft, designed to modulate oncoming fluid dynamics, airflow behaviors and minimize aerodynamic drag. Nose cones are also designed for submerged wat ...

-band,

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

spine and

wing tip A wing tip (or wingtip) is the part of the wing that is most distant from the fuselage of a fixed-wing aircraft. Because the wing tip shape influences the size and drag of the wingtip vortices, tip design has produced a diversity of sha ...

s. All aircraft carried 'BY' for Brawdy on both sides of the

tail The tail is the elongated section at the rear end of a bilaterian animal's body; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage extending backwards from the midline of the torso. In vertebrate animals that evolution, evolved to los ...

and a '

Pegasus Pegasus (; ) is a winged horse in Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born from Medusa's blood w ...

' on both sides of the nose, for 738 Naval Air Squadron. 738 Naval Air Squadron was disbanded on 5 May 1970 and the Hawker Hunter aircraft were absorbed into the fleets of the other Squadrons.

Aircraft flown

The squadron has flown a number of different aircraft types, including: The Royal Navy during the Second World War A21398

* Vought Corsair Mk I

(February 1943 - July 1945) *

III advanced

(February 1943 - July 1945) *

Mk I fighter aircraft (April 1943 - ) *

Grumman Wildcat The Grumman F4F Wildcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft that entered service in 1940 with the United States Navy, and the British Royal Navy where it was initially known as the Martlet. First used by the British in the North Atla ...

Mk V

(June 1943 - January 1944) *

Grumman Tarpon The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) is an American World War II-era torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air and naval av ...

Note; Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm fighters were named after sea birds. Later the "Avenger" name would be adopted by the RN to simplify supply and prevent possible confusion over delivery orders. GR.1

(June 1943 - May 1945) * Grumman Martlet Mk IV fighter aircraft (September 1943 - February 1944) *

Mk.II torpedo bomber (December 1943 - May 1945) * Grumman Avenger Mk.III torpedo bomber (April - May 1945) * Grumman Gosling Mk.I

amphibious aircraft An amphibious aircraft, or amphibian, is an aircraft that can Takeoff, take off and Landing, land on both solid ground and water. These aircraft are typically Fixed-wing aircraft, fixed-wing, though Amphibious helicopter, amphibious helicopte ...

(July 1944 - March 1945) * Vought Corsair Mk II fighter-bomber (July 1944 - July 1945) *

F Mk 46 fighter aircraft (May - August 1950) *

Blackburn Firebrand The Blackburn Firebrand was a British single-engine strike fighter for the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy designed during World War II by Blackburn Aircraft. Originally intended to serve as a pure fighter aircraft, fighter, its unimpressive ...

T.F. IV

strike fighter In current military parlance, a strike fighter is a multirole combat aircraft designed to operate both as an attack aircraft and as an air superiority fighter. As a category, it is distinct from fighter-bombers, and is closely related to the co ...

(May 1950 - August 1951) * Supermarine Seafire F Mk XVII fighter aircraft (May 1950-August 1951) *

F.10 fighter aircraft (May 1950 - August 1951) * de Havilland Sea Hornet F.20 fighter aircraft (May 1950 - August 1951) * de Havilland Sea Hornet PR.22 photo-

reconnaissance aircraft A reconnaissance aircraft (colloquially, a spy plane) is a military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including collection of imagery intelligence (including using Aerial photography, photography), signals ...

(May 1950 - August 1951) * Hawker Sea Fury FB.11 fighter-bomber (May 1950 - March 1955) * Hawker Sea Fury T.20 trainer aircraft (May 1950 - March 1955) *

aircraft (May 1954 - April 1957) *

de Havilland Vampire The de Havilland DH100 Vampire is a British jet fighter which was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland, de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the Royal Air Force, RAF, after the Gloster Meteo ...

T.22 jet trainer aircraft (May 1954 - March 1955, December 1958 - September 1962) * Hawker Sea Hawk F2 day fighter aircraft (March 1955 - March 1957) * Hawker Sea Hawk FB 3 fighter-bomber (March 1955 - June 1958) * Hawker Sea Hawk FGA 4 fighter

ground attack aircraft An attack aircraft, strike aircraft, or attack bomber is a tactical military aircraft that has a primary role of carrying out airstrikes with greater precision than bombers, and is prepared to encounter strong low-level air defenses while pres ...

(October 1955 - December 1958) *

FAW.21 fighter aircraft (October 1957 - September 1960) * Hawker Sea Hawk FGA 6 fighter ground attack aircraft (June 1960 - July 1962) *

GA.11 fighter ground attack aircraft (June 1962 - May 1970) * Hawker Hunter T.8 jet trainer aircraft (June 1962 - May 1970)

Naval air stations and other airbases

738 Naval Air Squadron operated from a number of naval air stations of the Royal Navy, a number of Royal Navy aircraft carriers and airbases overseas: NAS Quonset Point NAN10-74

1943 - 1945 * Royal Naval Air Station Quonset Point (HMS ''Asbury'' / ''Saker'' II) (1 February 1943 - 31 July 1943) * Royal Naval Air Station Lewiston (31 July 1943 - 14 February 1945) ** R. N. Air Section Norfolk (Detachment 2 - 14 January 1945) * Royal Naval Air Station Brunswick (14 February 1945 - 31 July 1945) ** R. N. Air Section Norfolk (Detachment 6 - 8 June 1945) * disbanded - (31 July 1945) 1950 - 1954 * Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose (HMS ''Seahawk'') (1 May 1950 - 12 January 1953) **Deck Landing Training *** (28 January - 9 February 1951) *** (18 - 27 July 1951) *** HMS ''Triumph'' (22 - 30 October 1951) *** HMS ''Triumph'' (10 - 13 December 1951) *** (1 - 12 February 1952) *** HMS ''Triumph'' (11 - 22 May 1952) *** HMS ''Illustrious'' (21 - 24 July 1952) *** HMS ''Triumph'' (19 - 27 October 1952) *** HMS ''Triumph'' (2 - 11 February 1953) *** HMS ''Illustrious'' (13 - 20 March 1953) *** HMS ''Illustrious'' (10 - 19 May 1953) *** HMS ''Illustrious'' (12 - 21 July 1953) *** HMS ''Illustrious'' (26 October - 4 November 1953) *** HMS ''Illustrious'' (15 - 23 February 1954) *** HMS ''Illustrious'' (20 - 23 September 1954) **Advanced Dummy Deck Landings *** RNAS Predannack (to 12 January 1953) * Royal Naval Air Station St Merryn (HMS ''Vulture'') (12 January 1953 - 9 November 1953) * Royal Naval Air Station Lossiemouth (HMS ''Fulmar'') (9 November 1953 - 23 March 1954) * disbanded - (23 March 1954) 1954 - 1970 * Royal Naval Air Station Lossiemouth (HMS Fulmar) (3 April 1954 - 6 January 1964) ** Royal Naval Air Station Brawdy (HMS ''Goldcrest'') (Detachment six aircraft 23 - 30 June 1960) * Royal Naval Air Station Brawdy (HMS ''Goldcrest'') (6 January 1964 - 5 May 1970) ** Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton (HMS ''Heron'') (Detachment five aircraft 22 - 28 May 1964) * disbanded - (5 May 1970)

Commanding officers

List of

s of 738 Naval Air Squadron, with date of appointment: 1943 - 1945 * Lieutenant Commander J.C. Reed, RN, from 1 February 1943 * Lieutenant Commander( A) J.P. Flood,

RNVR The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two Volunteer Reserves (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve (United Kingdom), ...

, from 24 October 1944 * Lieutenant Commander(A) J.L. Cullen, RN, from 16 March 1945 * disbanded - 31 July 1945 1950 - 1954 * Lieutenant Commander S.F.F. Shotton, RN, from 1 May 1950 * Lieutenant Commander S.A. Mearns, , RN, from 19 January 1951 *

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

H.J. Abraham, RN, from 12 July 1951 (Lieutenant Commander 1 October 1952) * Lieutenant Commander L.T. Summerfield, RN, from 23 June 1953 * disbanded - 24 March 1954 1954 - 1970 * Lieutenant Commander J. Robertson, RN, from 3 April 1954 ( KiFA 28 September 1954) * Lieutenant Commander P. Carmichael, DSC, RN, from 29 September 1954 * Lieutenant Commander D.B. Morison, RN, from 5 January 1955 * Lieutenant Commander A.J. Leahy, DSC, RN, from 17 May 1956 * Lieutenant Commander R.J. McCandless, DSC, RN, from 7 February 1958 * Lieutenant Commander D. Monsell, RN, from 5 October 1959 * Lieutenant Commander F. Hefford, DSC, RN, from 5 July 1961 * Lieutenant Commander J.W. Beard, RN, from 17 December 1962 * Lieutenant Commander J.W. Moore, RN, from 26 June 1964 * Lieutenant Commander C.A.M. Comins, RN, from 28 March 1966 * Lieutenant Commander J.F. Hall, RN, from 26 July 1967 * Lieutenant Commander N.G. Grier-Rees, RN, from 2 December 1968 * disbanded - 5 May 1970

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

FRADU Hunters - 738 NAS
FRADU Hunters web-site, a history of 738 NAS {{Royal Naval Air Squadrons 700 series Fleet Air Arm squadrons Military units and formations established in 1943 Air squadrons of the Royal Navy in World War II Military units and formations of the Royal Navy in World War II